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R E P O R t 


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ON 


BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION, 


A N D 


INVERTED SYPHONS, 


FOR 


SUPPLYING THE CITY OF CHELSEA 

WITH WATER. 


—7 

BY ROBERDEAU BUCHANAN, 

t I y 

ENGINEER IN CHARGE. 


ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT OF THE JOINT SPECIAL COMMITTEE 
ON THE INTRODUCTION OF WATER. 




CHELSEA, MASS. 
1868. 











































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APPENDIX 




































CHELSEA WATER WORKS. 


REPORT ON BRIDGE CONSTRICTION. 


[Received too late to follow the Report of the Joint Special 
Committee on Introduction of Water.] 



















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R EPORT. 


Engineer’s Office, Charlestown, Mass. 

December 24th, 1867. 

Hon. R. S. Frost, Chairman of Joint Special Committee 
on Introduction of Water. 

Sir : 

The Water Works for the supply of the City of Chelsea being 
now completed, I have the honor to submit the following Report 
descriptive of that portion of the Works over which you have 
been pleased to place me as Engineer. 

The supply of the City of Chelsea with water was contemplated 
when it was first proposed to supply Charlestown; and in all 
measures taken since, the wants of both cities have been anticipat¬ 
ed; and the Charlestown Works, as constructed, are “on a scale 
ample for the City of Charlestown and to meet the probable wants 
of Chelsea, East Boston, and the towns through which the line of 
aqueduct passes.” 

During the winter of 1866-67 several estimates were made by 
different engineers, of the cost of introducing the Mystic water 
into Chelsea, and several routes proposed; that which was found 
to be the most advantageous and least expensive being across 
Mystic River, alongside of the bridge between Charlestown and 
Chelsea. 



6 


To convey the water across the river, it was proposed to build 
a pile structure on which to lay the Main; but by the agreement 
you have since made with the Cochituate Water Board, we were 
permitted to lay our pipe on the piling which supports the Boston 
pipe. This arrangement is most advantageous to both parties ; 
for, in place of the heavy boxing around the Boston pipe, render¬ 
ing it extremely difficult to even find a leak, or to repair it 
when found, there is now a housing over both, sufficiently 
commodious to allow any ordinary repairs or alterations to be 
made in either, without removing any portion of it; and the 
City of Chelsea is saved a great expense in driving piles and con¬ 
structing a support for the pipe. 

The main pipe is of cast iron, sixteen inches internal diameter, 
— cast at the Warren Foundry,—and is laid on a flooring four 
inches in thickness, resting on the caps of the piles supporting the 
Boston pipe, and fitted with necessary blow-offs, air-cocks, etc. 
Thirteen hundred feet of this pipe is laid on the flats owned by the 
Mystic River Corporation, which they propose to fill in at some 
future time. To meet the prospective wants of this territory, 
four branches are placed in the pipe. These, and all the other 
special castings used on the work, were cast at the Chelsea Iron 
Foundry. These pipes have been coated, according to Dr. Smith’s 
process, with a preparation of coal tar, which has proved to be the 
best preventive of oxidation and the formation of tubercles, which 
are the most serious difficulty engineers have to contend against in 
water pipes. 

The water enters this Main at the corner of Chelsea and Med- 
ford streets, Charlestown, where it is delivered from three pipes of 
twelve, eight, and six inches diameter. The two latter pipes are 
part of the original distribution of that city ; the 12-inch was laid 
recently in Medford street, 1500 feet to the foot of Lexington, 
where it also connects with the distribution. The areas of these 
three pipes, it will be seen, are very nearly equivalent to that of 
the 16-inch Main. They are so arranged that in case either one 
is shut off for repairs the other two can be used as a means of 
supply. For future supply, when more water is needed than 
these three pipes will furnish, or to assist the circulation, 
the Mystic Water Board proposes to continue the 12-inch pipe 


7 . 

up Medford street to the 24-inch Main; and also, if necessary, 
to lay another pipe on the Mystic River Corporation lands. From 
the corner of Chelsea and Medford streets, the 16-inch Main is 
laid through Chelsea St. 400 feet to the bridge, thence across the 
river, 8300 feet wide, and in connection with the syphons delivers 
the water at the Chelsea shore. 

The housing over the pipes extends across the whole width of the 
river, except at each of the two draws, where the water passes 
through the two Inverted Syphons laid under the bed of the river, 
to allow the passage of vessels It consists of a timber framing, 
boarded on the sides and roof. The sides are composed of a simple 
truss, to support the flooring between each bay of piles, and give 
firmness to the whole structure. It is 8 ft. 8 in. wide, 3 ft. 5 in. 
high on the sides, and 5 ft. 9 in. in the clear under the 
ridge. The total weight on the piling is not quite doubled by 
adding the second pipe and housing. There are 13 doors in the 
housing, about 300 feet apart, for access to the inside. Adjacent 
to each Syphon, the original boxing has not been removed from the 
Boston pipe ; and the housing here, covering only the Chelsea pipe, 
is 3 feet 5 inches high, and 4| feet wide, being smaller as it 
passes under the wharves at the draws. The outside of the hous¬ 
ing has been painted with three coats of Brandon paint. 

The Inverted Syphons, designed to convey the water under the 
channels of the river, so as not to impede navigation, are placed 
one at each draw in Chelsea Bridge ; the northerly one 600 ft. from 
the Chelsea shore, and the southerly one two hundred and thirty 
feet from the Charlestown shore. The pipes are here 24 inches in 
diameter, the increased size being designed in case a larger pipe on 
the bridge should become necessary at some future time, and for 
convenience of access for cleaning or repairs. The joints have 
been run solid with lead and caulked twice, to secure strength and 
tightness. The pipes are enclosed jn a stout boxing of pine timber, 
9 and 6 inches in thickness, firmly bolted with iron bolts of 1 and 
inches, averaging five feet apart. The space between the 
pipe and boxing below high water level is filled with concrete, for 
the protection of the pipe, the horizontal part being filled while 
building, and the uprights after it was lowered into place. The 
Northerly Syphon, under the main channel of the river, is 58 feet 


• 8 

entreme length, 40 feet in depth, and 50 feet 8 inches in the clear 
between the uprights, the draw of the bridge being 46 feet; the 
weight at time of lowering 43 tons. The Southerly Syphon is 
smaller, being 46 feet 6 inches extreme length, 80 feet in depth, 
and 38 feet 9 inches between the uprights, the draw being 34 ft. 
7 inches; the weight at time of lowering 32 tons. For the 
reception of the Syphons the channels were dredged out about four 
feet in depth, for protection from passing vessels. The man¬ 
ner of constructing and lowering the Syphons into place being the 
same in both, only the Northerly one will be described. It was 
built on one side of the draw, and in the line it was finally intend¬ 
ed to occupy, and rested on piles driven for the purpose. When 
it was completed, a double row of piles was driven, extending from 
the Syphon across the draw, closing it to navigation ; and the 
Syphon, which was built on rollers, was rolled on the ways 80 feet, 
until it rested over the draw. Two derricks were then erected, 
one at each end, resting on clusters of piles braced by spur-shores. 
The Syphon was then raised by the tackles, four in number, until 
it was clear of the ways where it had rested, which were removed, 
and the Syphon lowered between the two rows of piles into its 
‘final position on the hard pan of the river; after which, the tempo¬ 
rary piles, 80 in number, were removed, opening the draw, 
which had been closed to vessels for eleven days. It was lowered 
at high tide, to take advantage of the buoyancy of the water in re¬ 
lieving the strain on the tackles. The depth of w T ater was 35 feet, 
the distance lowered 39 feet, and the actual time of lowering, 
including the removal of the ways, two and one quarter hours. 
The stability of the Syphons is great, because their centres of 
gravity are low. In the larger Syphon, at the time of lowering, 
with no concrete in the uprights, it was 7J feet from the bottom, 
or about one-fifth of the whole height; after lowering and the 
uprights filled with concrete, it was 10 feet 9 iuches from the bot¬ 
tom, about one-fourth of the height, requiring the top to be 
moved eight feet from the vertical before it would overturn. 

The agreement between the Committee and the Mystic Water 
Board, whereby each city owns a portion of the bridge work, defines 
the point of division to be u the Northerly line of the ‘ Mystic 
River Improvements.’ ” By this, eighteen hundred and twenty- 


o 


9 


eight leet of bridging, including the the smaller syphon, belongs 
to Charlestown; and fourteen hundred and seventy-two feet of 
bridging, including the larger syphon, to Chelsea. 

Work was commenced on the 9th day of September last,in 
removing the boxing from the Boston pipe, and the next day some 
of the floor planks were laid. From this date the work was car¬ 
ried forward with great rapidity until its completion, and was 
sufficiently advanced on the 16th of November, after 53 working 
days, to let water through the pipe for trial, and was finished on 
the 7th of December. 

The contractor, Mr. Geo. H. Norman, to whom was awarded 
the whole of this work, deserves much credit for the faithful man¬ 
ner in which it has been performed, and for his co-operation 
in hasting its completion. 

The maximum quantity of water this 16-inch pipe will deliver 
at the Chelsea shore, with the present head, is 9,500,000 gallons 
in twenty-four hours: but the City of Chelsea, during the next 
thirty years, will probably not require more than 2,520,000 gal¬ 
lons, as I stated in a Report to your Committee in November, ’66. 

The work on the Pipe and Bridge being completed so late in the 
season, the repairing of the Fender, built by the Boston Water 
Works for the protection of their pipe, has been left until next 
Spring. 

In conclusion, I desire to return my thanks to my esteemed 
friend, Geo. R. Baldwin, Esq., for his valuable advice on many 
important matters connected with this work, and also beg leave to 
congratulate the Committee on the rapid completion of this 
noble enterprise. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Robekdeau Buchanan, 

Engineer. 



' n 


R E P 0 R T 


ON 


BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION, 


INVERTED SYPHONS, 

FOR 

SUPPLYING THE CITY OF CHELSEA 

WITH WATER. 


BY ROBERDEAU BUCHANAN, 

ENGINEER IN CHARGE. 


ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT OF THE JOINT SPECIAL COMMITTEE 
ON THE INTRODUCTION OF WATER. 


CHELSEA, MASS. 
1868. 





























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